Pivot Counties in Kentucky
| 2020 Election Analysis: Pivot Counties |
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Retained • Boomerang Margins of victory Voter turnout Demographics |
Pivot Counties are the 206 counties nationwide Ballotpedia identified as having voted for Barack Obama (D) in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections and Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Media and political observers sometimes refer to these counties as swing counties.
Following the 2016 presidential election, Kentucky had one Pivot County.
Ballotpedia defines Pivot Counties Trump won in 2020 as Retained Pivot Counties and those Joe Biden (D) won as Boomerang Pivot Counties.
After the 2020 presidential election, that one county was a Retained Pivot County.
List of Pivot Counties
The table below displays information on the Pivot County in Kentucky. This county accounted for 0.83 percent of the total counties in Kentucky, and 0.18 percent of the state population.
| Analysis of Kentucky counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008 following the 2020 presidential election[1] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| County | State | Winner, 2020 | Margin of Victory, 2020 | Trump Margin of Victory, 2016 | Obama Margin of Victory, 2012 | Obama Margin of Victory, 2008 | |
| Elliott County | Kentucky | Retained | +51.22 | +44.13 | +2.5 | +25.17 | |
The map below shows the Retained Pivot County in Kentucky shaded bright red.
2020 analysis
Voter turnout
Kentucky has one Retained Pivot Counties, 0.8% of the state's 120 total counties. Turnout in this county accounted for 0.14% of the statewide total turnout.
| Voter turnout in Kentucky and its Pivot County | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes cast | Voting age population | Turnout | Contribution to statewide turnout | |||
| Übersicht | ||||||
| Kentucky | 2,136,768 | 3,338,185 | 64.01% | - | ||
| Retained Pivot County | 2,995 | 6,110 | 49.02% | 0.14% | ||
| County-specific | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes cast | Voting age population | Turnout | Contribution to statewide turnout | |||
| Elliott | 2,995 | 6,110 | 49.02% | 0.14% | ||
Demographics
This table displays demographic data, on average, by county compared to nationwide and statewide averages with a focus on Pivot Counties. Use the arrows at the top of the table to view 2016 data and changes from 2016 to 2020. Full demographic data can be found here.
2016 analysis
Voting trends
The table below details the voting trends of the Pivot County in Kentucky since 1960.
| Presidential Elections in Kentucky Pivot Counties since 1960 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| County | Elections won by Republican Presidential candidate | Elections won by Democratic Presidential candidate | Elections matching national result | |||
| Elections | Percentage of elections | Elections | Percentage of elections | Elections | Percentage of elections | |
| Elliott County, Kentucky | 1 | 6.67% | 14 | 93.33% | 8 | 53.33% |
2016 election results
- See also: Presidential election in Kentucky, 2016
In 2016, Kentucky had eight electoral votes, which was 1.4 percent of the 538 electoral votes up for grabs and 3 percent of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the general election. A Democratic primary election took place in Kentucky on May 17, 2016. Hillary Clinton won with 46.8 percent of the vote. The Republican Party held caucuses in Kentucky on March 5, 2016. Donald Trump won with 35.9 percent.
General election
| U.S. presidential election, Kentucky, 2016 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Electoral votes | |
| Democratic | Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine | 32.7% | 628,854 | 0 | |
| Republican |  Donald Trump/Mike Pence |
62.5% | 1,202,971 | 8 | |
| Libertarian | Gary Johnson/Bill Weld | 2.8% | 53,752 | 0 | |
| Green | Jill Stein/Ajamu Baraka | 0.7% | 13,913 | 0 | |
| American Delta | Roque De La Fuente/Michael Steinberg | 0.1% | 1,128 | 0 | |
| Independent | Evan McMullin/Nathan Johnson | 1.2% | 22,780 | 0 | |
| - | Write-in votes | 0% | 751 | 0 | |
| Total Votes | 1,924,149 | 8 | |||
| Election results via: Kentucky Secretary of State | |||||
Primary/Caucus
| Kentucky Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Delegates | |
|
Hillary Clinton |
46.8% | 212,534 | 28 | |
| Bernie Sanders | 46.3% | 210,623 | 27 | |
| Martin O'Malley | 1.3% | 5,713 | 0 | |
| Rocky De La Fuente | 0.4% | 1,594 | 0 | |
| Other | 5.3% | 24,101 | 0 | |
| Totals | 454,565 | 55 | ||
| Source: The New York Times and Kentucky Secretary of State | ||||
| Kentucky Republican Caucus, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Delegates | |
|
Donald Trump |
35.9% | 82,493 | 17 | |
| Ted Cruz | 31.6% | 72,503 | 15 | |
| Marco Rubio | 16.4% | 37,579 | 7 | |
| John Kasich | 14.4% | 33,134 | 7 | |
| Ben Carson | 0.8% | 1,951 | 0 | |
| Rand Paul | 0.4% | 872 | 0 | |
| Other | 0.2% | 496 | 0 | |
| Jeb Bush | 0.1% | 305 | 0 | |
| Mike Huckabee | 0.1% | 174 | 0 | |
| Chris Christie | 0% | 65 | 0 | |
| Carly Fiorina | 0% | 64 | 0 | |
| Rick Santorum | 0% | 31 | 0 | |
| Totals | 229,667 | 46 | ||
| Source: The New York Times and Republican Party of Kentucky | ||||
See also
- List of Pivot Counties - the 206 counties that voted Obama-Obama-Trump
- Pivot Counties by state
- Presidential election, 2016
Footnotes
- ↑ This analysis does not include counties in Alaska and certain independent cities due to variations in vote total reporting.
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